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High & Dry

High & Dry is photographer Osceola Refetoff's collaboration with writers Christopher Langley and Jack Eidt exploring the desert and the people who live there. The myth of the West is charged with hope and ambition, yet the current reality reflects a patchwork of struggling communities, dreamers, dropouts, and military-industrial compounds. Balancing images and words with the personal and historical, High & Dry focuses on the remnants and the future of human activity across these vast open spaces — territory that is becoming increasingly dominated by mining, immense wind and solar arrays, and the controversial dynamics of critical resource allocation. To explore more High & Dry, visit desertdispatches.com.

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Tourists at Badwater Basin, Death Valley, CA (featured image)
The landscape of Badwater Basin, the most popular tourist attraction in Death Valley National Park, is always changing. Artist collective High & Dry report from the edge of this earth dip, and attempt to capture the immensity before them.
Scotty's Castle After Thousand-Year Flood - Death Valley, CA - 2015
Scotty's Castle in Death Valley remains shuttered after rains and massive flooding.
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The town of Trona, CA is experiencing economic challenges. Artist collective High and Dry meet with its residents who remain stalwart in the face of adversity.
Fossil Falls Unimproved Campsite off CA Highway 395 - Fossil Falls, CA 2015
Artist duo High & Dry document the Fossil Falls desert landscape -- a region once occupied by heavy volcanic activity.
Fossil Falls, CA
We are now living in the Anthropocene where no landscape is untouched by human intention. What does the altered geography truly say about the human spirit?
southern california edison in lancaster ca
Lancaster intends to become the net zero city of the future. Once filled with alfalfa fields, now solar systems crop up in the city.
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Artist duo High and Dry talks to the Hudsons, a Trona couple who have been together for 60 years, and learn about changes the town has faced.
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A large number of green energy projects are popping up in the California desert. Artists High & Dry contemplate their connection to the myth of the American West.
"Freight Train." Salton Sea, CA. 2014. | Photo: Osceola Refetoff.
The Salton Sea-adjacent town of Brawley is recuperating from a massive fire. Writer/ photographer duo High & Dry visit with community members who have not given up.
"Poles and Dirt Circle No. 1," infrared exposure. Salton Sea, CA. 2014. | Photo: Osceola Refetoff.
The Salton Sea is full of questions. Writer/ photographer duo High & Dry explore abandoned, mysterious ruins found off the Red Hill Marina.
"Dead Tree, Nests & Thermal Plants," infrared exposure. Salton Sea, CA. 2014. | Photo: Osceola Refetoff.
Collective High & Dry walk along the shores of the Salton Sea, examining birds, plants, and other living beings that rely on the shrinking body of water.
"Freeway Entrance." North of Lancaster, CA. 2012. | Photo: Osceola Refetoff.
Writer/ photographer duo High & Dry travel through the alphabet avenues of Lancaster. They make a stop at the green energy Sierra SunTower station and come across the city's Landfill & Recycling Center.
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